Bree's Challenge
by QuinnandSeth'sgirl15
Summary: Bree Wilson, comes to live with her cousin Mike Reese and her Uncle Gene at their farm Whitebrook in Kentucky. What happens when she gets there? Who does she meet? What happens when a spirited filly comes along? Sorry it's a sucky summary
1. Chapter 1

Bree's Challenge

Chapter 1 'Meeting You.'

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except the ones I make up!

A/N: BTW, I changed it to 2009. I know the series was written in the 90's, but I changed that for my story. I'm finally posting the first chapter though I've probably been working on it for a month. Haha. Enjoy!

August 14th, 2009 6PM

Bree Wilson Pov

I watched out my window as the plane landed on the runway at the Lexington Airport in Lexington, Kentucky. I was moving to Lexington, Kentucky to live with my Uncle Gene Reese and his son, my cousin Mike Reese. Gene and Mike had a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm called Whitebrook, in Lexington and my father was sending me to live with them. It would do me good, he had said as he helped me back, get away for awhile then maybe later on I could come back home to South Carolina.

I sighed as I got up when it was time to exit the plane, it took me a few minutes to get up because I had fractured my knee when I was playing soccer and I had it wrapped right now. I walked slowly(with the help of my crutches) trying not to cause too much pain in my knee, I had pain medicine but I hated to taking them because it made me very sleepy and I just hated taking them. I could handle the pain.

Once I got off the plane, I looked around the Lexington airport for my Uncle Gene, who would be picking me up. After a few minutes of searching, I finally saw him standing by the baggage claim. "Uncle Gene!" I called,trying to quickly get over to him. But with crutches you couldn't really hurry, well not me anyways, I was still getting used to them.

"Hey there Bree! Glad to see you made it safely." Gene hugged me tightly and kissed my forehead. Then he looked down at my knee and whistled softly."Your dad told my about your knee but I didn't think it would be that bad."

I shrugged. "It's not as bad as it seems." I said.

"Well do you have any bags with you?" Gene asked putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Just one duffle bag." I said pointing it out, Gene grabbed it for me and we headed towards the parking lot.

…...

20 minutes later..

I sucked in a breath as we pulled up the lane of Whitebrook Farm, Uncle Gene's farm. I could see the two barns they had, their old farmhouse, Len's-who I knew was their faithful groom and basically part of the family-cottage, the training track they had put in after moving here. I knew they only had a couple of horses right now so it was small operation at the moment but it was still pretty amazing to me, I always loved it here whenever I visited them.

Now I would be living here, temporarily I hoped, with them. As we parked by the farmhouse I saw Mike coming out of the barn at a run towards the house, I got out and was totally unprepared when Mike picked me up and spun me around in a circle. I laughed as he sat me back on the ground and grinned at me.

"I'm so glad you're finally here!" Mike said grabbing my crutches for me out of the truck.

"Yeah, well it seems like it." I grinned back as we walked into the house. Mike pulled out a chair for me at the table so I could sit down. "Thanks."

"So how was your flight?" Mike asked politely, I rolled my eyes.

"Well let's just say I got myself stuck in between some unpleasant people." I told him, my southern accent coming out in my voice a bit.

"Well at least you seem to have had a way out of that." Mike gestured to my blue iPod that was hanging from my pocket, only staying up because of my headphones.

I smiled and half-shrugged. "It helped a bit."

"I have so much I want to show you!" Mike exclaimed getting up off his chair and handing me my crutches. "You have to see how Jazzman is doing! And you have to meet Ashleigh, she's the girl I've been telling you about..She lives right over at Townsend Acres maybe we could go see her?"

Mike said it so excitedly I couldn't say no. "Sure, that'd be great." I told him while walking out the door with him. Mike kept talking to me about the horse and Ashleigh until we got to the first barn which held Jazzman, Indigo and 2 other horses of Mike's.

"Well hello Miss Bree! It's good to see you again." Len greeted me with a quick hug.

"It's good to see you too Len!" I hugged Len back, smiling at him.

"Well now what did you do to yourself now?" Len asked, chuckling looking at my leg. I had hurt myself many times before, some times from my sometimes clumsiness and other times from soccer.

"I fractured my knee during one of our games." I told him sadly. Len shook his head.

"Looks pretty bad." Len commented, I shrugged.

"It's really not that bad...gives me a little bit of trouble and pain so often but I get through it." I felt uncomfortable when people talked about my leg. I just wish they didn't notice it.

"Do you think you are healed enough to get up on a horse?" Mike asked as we all walked down to Jazzman's stall. Jazzman had his head out of his stall and was neighing to Mike.

I smiled as Jazzman nuzzled Mike's chest. "I think I am."

"Well I can put you on one of our geldings that we use with Jazzman and Indigo. He's really calm and dependable, doesn't spook at anything really." Mike told me, as I patted Jazzman's neck. "We could do that tomorrow."

"That'd be cool, I mean I haven't been on a horse since I last seen you."

"Do you want to change or anything before we go to Townsend Acres?" Mike asked, I looked down at my jean shorts and light blue t-shirt.

"No, I think I'm fine in this."

"Alright well let's head out!" Mike led me towards his truck.

…...

15 minutes later

We pulled up to a beautiful farm. It hard at least _six_ barns, I saw a big almost mansion looking house, then a regular farm house and a big building farther back that seemed to be a small apartment building. I know Mike had told me Townsend Acres was a big farm and I had certainly read their names in the racing papers a lot but _wow!_

As Mike helped me out of the truck, an auburn haired girl came towards us. She seemed pretty short, probably only 5'3 and very small-weight wise. By the way she smiled at Mike as she stopped in front of him, my guess was this was Ashleigh Griffen.

"Mike! I'm glad you were able to make it over." The girl gave him a quick hug and turned to me with a smile. "You must be Bree, Mike's cousin! Mike's told me so much about you."

I smiled back, she seemed so nice already. "Yes, I'm Bree and I hope he's only been telling you good things." I laughed. "You must be Ashleigh, I have also heard much about you."

Ashleigh blushed. "All good, I promise. Mike told me he was going to bring you over and introduce you. I thought I'd show you around—the grand tour."

"That'd be great."I said looking around everywhere.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your leg, Mike said you injured it in a soccer game?" Ashleigh started as we walked towards the first barn.

"Yes, one of our final games. Bad game." I gave a half-smile. After that we walked around, Ashleigh showing me Wonder-the filly that won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont!- Townsend Prince, some of the Townsend's stallions then after telling them I would be fine for a few minutes while Mike helped Ashleigh with something, they left me at Wonder's stall. "Wonder you're such a beautiful horse."

I kept petting Wonder until I heard footsteps behind me. A short blonde girl walked towards me(on crutches!)with a smile. "You must be Mike's cousin, Bree." She called. Did Mike tell everyone about me? "I just passed Mike and Ash on my way down here and Mike told me you were with Wonder." She said as if reading my thoughts.

"Oh." I smiled. "And yes, I'm Bree. You are?"

"Jilly Gordon." Jilly held her hand out and I shook it. "I'm a jockey and exercise rider here at Townsend Acres. Used to be Wonder's jockey. Until the Travers Stake." Jilly grimaced.

I winced. "Yeah, I watched. She freaked." (Okay, it's after the Travers Stakes in book 4 but before the Breeders Cup Classic)

"We're thinking it was because of a whip was in her face. Wonder is really whip-shy and I guess when she saw that whip it just reminded her of bad times." Jilly said giving the mare a kiss on her cheek. "But I'd never blame her."

"I've read a lot of articles about her-especially the ones Mike sends me- and I remember them mentioning that none of her jockeys ride with whips."

"She had some bad experiences before Charlie and Ash took over her training." Jilly said sadly.

"Poor Wonder." I said rubbing her ears. Then I looked down at Jilly's leg. "Looks like we're kind of in the same boat."

Jilly gave a half-amused smile. "Yeah. I broke my leg when Wonder threw me, what did you do?"

"Playing soccer, fractured my knee."

Jilly had a sympathetic face on. "That sounds way worse than mine."

"Well it's probably close. But I may have to wait awhile longer before I can really do anything."

Someone called Jilly's name from the end of the barn and she gave me a smile. "I'll see you later, nice meeting you."

"You too." I called after her. I patted Wonder one more time then walked down to Townsend Prince. "Hey pretty boy, I read about you a lot. I actually can't believe I'm standing here talking to you. "

I heard someone behind me clear their throat and I gasped then turned around so fast I lost my left crutch. Standing there was a handsome man, well boy really probably about Mike's age, he had dark brown hair, a handsome face which looked familiar, fit body as if he rode a lot and was holding a saddle, bridle and a helmet in his hands.

He sat down the saddle and handed me my crutch looking amused. "May I ask who you are?"

"I'm Bree Wilson, Mike Reese's cousin." I choked out.

The boy gave me a smile. "I'm Brad, Brad Townsend. This is my family's farm." I knew he looked familiar. Brad Townsend, wow.

"It's a really great farm you have, amazing setup." I said, blushing.

"Thank you, I think so too." Brad said, grabbing Townsend Prince out of his stall. "I saw you admiring Wonder and Prince. I wanted to know who you were."

"Oh. Well yes, they're both beautiful horses, I've read lots about them and watched them race. Mike brought me over to meet Ashleigh Griffen and Mike went to help her with something so I stayed with Wonder then came to pet Townsend Prince if that's okay."

Brad shrugged. "Perfectly fine." Brad eyed my leg. "Riding accident?"

I shook my head. "Soccer accident. I don't really ride."

Brad look surprised. "You live in Kentucky, and you don't ride?"

"Well I don't really live in Kentucky, I live in South Carolina, but I'm coming to live with my Uncle Gene and Cousin Mike. I ride sometimes when I'm in Kentucky with them."

"I was about to work him on the track, would you like to watch?" Brad asked as he finished saddling Townsend Prince. (a/n:I know it's way too late to be working a horse on the track but it's fiction..lol)

"I'd love to!"

Brad bowed. "After you Ma'am." He said winking.

So we both walked out to the track, Brad telling me how he was going to work the Prince and his upcoming races.

Then Brad smiled mischievously. "I probably shouldn't be telling the competition this."

I raised my eyebrows. "Competition? I don't think Mike has any horses the age of Prince and I'm certainly not going to go back to Mike and tell him everything you said." I smiled at him.

"Good to know." Brad kept the smile on his face as we reached the track. "See you when I'm done."

…...

Mike Pov

Ashleigh and I were walking out of the barn Wonder and the Prince were housed in, when we saw a surprising sight. Brad was walking and talking with Bree. By the way they were smiling, it seemed to be a good conversation.

"Wow. That's quite a sight." Ashleigh commented. Terri, one of the grooms, came up beside us and nodded at Bree and Brad.

"Is that Brad's new girlfriend?" Terri asked grinning.

"No!" I said, crossing my arms. Ashleigh smiled. "He's still dating Melinda Westwood as far as I know."

"That's Mike's cousin, Bree. She just arrived in Kentucky today." Ashleigh told Terri.

"Sorry Mike, you might want to keep an eye on her around Brad. They seem to be enjoying their conversation too much." Terri teased me.

"Bree could never fall for someone like Brad Townsend." I said, totally serious. Bree was too nice, Brad was a mean snob, it wouldn't work.

"I don't know...Brad has quite some charm." Terri winked.

I rolled my eyes. "Bree is way too smart to fall for him." I argued back.

"You two are getting worried about nothing. They're just talking, that's all."

"Well you know Brad, he's never nice. But he's being plenty nice to her." Terri commented back to Ashleigh.

"Let's just go over there and stand with her." I said, walking towards the track.

…...

Bree POV

I watched in awe as I watched Townsend Prince's workout. I had to admit to even my amateur eye, Brad was a good rider, even though his riding seemed a bit rough. But the Prince was working beautifully for him.

"Great horse isn't he?" asked Ken Maddock, who I knew was Townsend Acres head trainer.

"He's amazing." I agreed. "Brad and him are quite the team."

Ken nodded. "Yeah, Brad gets a little rough with some of his mounts but Prince and him work well together." Ken eyed me for a moment. "Mike's cousin, Bree, right?"

I laughed. "Yes, I'm Bree. How does everyone know me?"

Ken laughed with me. "I heard Mike talking to Charlie earlier and saw you. I know you're not one of my exercise riders, jockeys or a groom so you had to be Bree."

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Mike and Ashleigh. "Hey Mike, Ashleigh. Did you guys get that something done?"

Ashleigh nodded. "Yep. I see you found your way out to the track."

"Yeah, I was petting Wonder then I went to pet Prince and Brad showed up. We started talking then he said he was going to work Prince and asked if I wanted to watch so I decided not to pass up the chance."

Ashleigh smiled. "I wouldn't pass up the chance to watch a racehorse workout either."

Mike didn't seem so happy right now. It kind of seemed like something was wrong, I told myself to wait until we got in the truck to talk to him about it. I had a feeling it had something to do with Brad Townsend.

A few minutes later, Brad rode off the track. Ken and Brad talked for a couple of minutes then Brad rode over to where Mike, Ashleigh and I were standing.

After nodding at Mike and Ashleigh, Brad turned to me. "How did you like it? How did we look?" Brad asked me, looking excited.

"I loved it, it was amazing. You two were amazing, you and Prince are such a team." I told him, honestly.

Brad looked like he was going to say something but before he could speak we heard another voice. "Brad!" I heard a girl calling his name, and we all looked to where the voice had come from. Coming towards us was a blonde girl, wearing a short red dress and high heels and sunglasses. "Oh Brad, we're supposed to meet Daddy at the Club in 20 minutes and you're _riding_?"

Brad looked angry for a moment then calm spread over his face. "I thought we were supposed to meet him at 8?"

"Brad, it's 20 minutes to 8!" The girl told him, sounding distressed. Brad looked at his watch, cursed and dismounted Prince and looked around.

It seemed Ashleigh took pity on him—or the Prince. "I could put him away Brad."

Brad looked relieved. "Thank you Ashleigh. Thank you very much." Then he turned to me after handing her Prince's reins. "It was nice meeting you Bree. I hope I see you again."

"You too. Have fun, Brad!" I waved as he left.

"Want us to stay around while you cool him out?" Mike asked, finally speaking.

Ashleigh shook her head. "I'm gonna cool him out then help feed. It's probably time for you to feed too, so go on home, I'll see you later Mike." I watched them kiss—so adorable!-and Ashleigh blushed. "I hope I'll see you again soon too, Bree."

I smiled. "Of course, I had fun today. I'd love to come back, maybe when you're working Wonder or maybe you could come over to Whitebrook."

"That'd be great." We said goodbye to Ashleigh and got in Mike's truck.

As we pulled out of Townsend Acres, Mike looked at me. "I just think you should know, Brad Townsend is not a good guy."

I stiffened up. Where did this come from? "Brad seemed perfectly nice to me."

"He probably was only being nice because you are cute and kept complimenting him and Townsend Prince." Mike snorted. "He's definitely not your type of guy, for a boyfriend or a friend."

I looked at Mike in disbelief. "We were just talking about horses. We've known each other for like 5 minutes, I've never even thought about him in _that_ way!"

Mike sighed. "I'm just warning you, he can be a real jerk. You don't know what's he done to Ash and Wonder. We can tell you about it sometime, I just don't want to see you get hurt."

I felt my anger drain away. "Thanks Mike, but nothing is going on...And I'm a big girl, I can protect myself. I'm 15, I think I can handle Brad."

Mike nodded and then conversation switched to horse racing. We talked about races he was thinking about entering Jazzman in, Mike told me Chad was talking about putting Indigo's racing career off for awhile so he could mature a bit more.

By the time we pulled into Whitebrook we both had forgotten about Brad Townsend and our conversation in the car. Our focus was on the horses who probably wanted their feed.

"Can I come with you to the barn to help feed?" I asked Mike as I got out of the truck.

"Sure, since you're going to be living here, you might as well learn our routine, then maybe you can start helping out and riding." Mike said. I saw my uncle Gene and Len coming out of the feed room with a couple of buckets as we entered the barn.

Uncle Gene smiled. "Hey, you two are back just in time!" Uncle Gene handed me a bucket. "That goes to Coffee, that black mare over there, She's really gentle and calm so she will be easy to feed with your crutches."

I nodded and headed towards the stall. Coffee, backed up as soon as I opened the stall door and politely waited until I had dumped her feed and walked away to walk over to her feed bin.

I was smiling as I came out of Coffee's stall. "That mare has some serious manners."

Mike grinned at me. "Yeah, Coffee is a real gentle mare, and very polite. Dad and I were thinking that if you wanted to learn to ride, you could learn on her because she's such a good horse. She's trained English and Western, she neck reins and she'll do anything you ask her."

"When can I start riding her?" I asked, excited at the thought. Mike eyed my leg.

"When your doctor gives the okay." I sighed.

"But my leg is fine. I feel great."

Mike and I continued to argue about when I could ride after we made sure all the horses were okay and bedded down for the night, and were heading up to the house.

Finally Uncle Gene stopped us. "Okay you two, calm down. I'll settle this, Bree you can ride when the doctor says you can and thinks you'll be fine on a horse."

I sighed in defeat and disappoint. Len patted my back(he's joining us for dinner). "Don't worry Bree, you'll be up on a horse in no time."

Uncle Gene made us all cheeseburgers and fries. "Junk food for tonight."

"Dad, it's pretty much junk food every night." Mike laughed.

"Hey, Len and I can make good dinner meals. Right Len?"

Len nodded. "I make a mean spaghetti." Len winked at me.

I laughed. "Uncle Gene this is just fine. Dad didn't know much about cooking either, if you want, I could start cooking. I mean I learned early on how to cook after Dad kept burning all our meals."

Uncle Gene smiled. "Did I mention how good it's gonna be having a female in the house?"

I rolled my eyes and ate my dinner.

After dinner, Mike showed me up to my room. "We just left it white because we figured you might want to paint it and decorate it. Plus your dad is sending all your furniture here in the next week or so."

I nodded. "We're definitely painting it, Mike. Maybe like neon blue or green...or orange!"

Mike chuckled. "You always did like bright colors."

"I got that from my mom." I smiled at him even though I felt sad. I didn't like to mention my mother. And Mike knew it.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow bright and early, Bree. So I hope you rest good. Night." Mike gave me a hug.

"Thanks Mike for today, it was fun. Night." I returned his hug. After Mike had left I shut my door and grabbed the bottle of water on my nightstand. My knee was starting to bother me now and I think I was going to take a pain pill. I grabbed my bottle of pills and took one.

I started to feel drowsy within a few minutes so I turned out the lights, got under the covers and fell asleep, so excited for tomorrow morning.

…...

A/N: Hi readers! This is my first Thoroughbred Series fanfiction so I hope it's good. I've read most of the series and once I saw the Thoroughbred series on here, I wanted to write my own story. So here it is!

I'd love reviews to know if you like it or want me to continue. Anyways I hope you like it and want me to continue.

I'll try to post the next chapter soon.

From: QuinnandSeth'sgirl15

PS: I've changed somethings as you may notice and Mike, Ashleigh and Brad may be a little out of character..Sorry I'm trying my best :) lol.


	2. Chapter 2 'You've Got A Nice Car'

Bree's Challenge

Chapter 2 "You've got a nice car."

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the characters I make up! I don't own any restaurants either!

A/N: Here's the next chapter, Enjoy!

Sunday, August 15th, 2009 5am

Bree Pov

"Bree," I felt someone shaking my shoulder. "Bree, it's time to wake up. You want to watch the workouts don't you?"

My eyes instantly flew open, my room was pitch black and when my eyes adjusted to the darkness I could see it was,my uncle Gene standing above me. "Yeah, what time is it?"

"Five in the morning. Mike's already out in the barn, with Chad helping everyone get ready." Gene said turning my light on for me. I put my hands over my eyes, the light being entirely too bright at this time of the morning. "Up and at 'em Sunshine."

Groaning, I got up and grabbed some clothes out of my duffle bag to change into. I saw Gene was getting ready to leave the room but I wanted to ask him something. "Uncle Gene?"

Gene turned around. "Yes, Bree?"

"Can we go see the doctor sometime this week? I want to see when I can ride and I think I'm ready for this wrapping to come off my leg."

Gene nodded, "I'll call our family doctor and set up an appointment for Monday or Tuesday."

I smiled. "Thanks Uncle Gene."

Gene smiled back. "No problem, Bree." Then he left and walked down to the kitchen. I closed my door and changed quickly. I had picked my favorite pair of blue jeans, a short sleeved turquoise t-shirt and my blue converses since I didn't have boots.

I decided to do without my crutches today, my knee ached a bit but not too much so I figured I would been fine. I would have a limp, sure, but I wouldn't have to walk around with my crutches anymore.

I walked as fast as I could out to the training track. I saw Mike standing there with two horses, Len, Gene and I'm assuming Chad. I had never met Mike's best friend but I had heard much about him, I knew the one horse was Jazzman but I didn't recognize the other one.

I heard a car pull up and I saw Ashleigh Griffen get out of the car in her boots with a riding helmet. She must be helping Mike and Chad with their colts.

Ashleigh caught up with me as I walked to the track. "No crutches today?" Ashleigh commented.

"My knee hurts a bit but I think I could do without the crutches." Ashleigh nodded. Then I smiled. "Plus I really hope when I see the doctor sometime next week, he'll think I'm healed enough to ride."

Ashleigh smiled at me. "Ah, so you want to ride?"

I laughed. "Yeah, well Mike is supposed to teach me how to ride."

Mike turned as we got close to him. "Mike is supposed to do what?"

Ashleigh and I laughed at his suspicious expression. "You said you would teach me to ride!"

"Oh, yeah I did agree to that." Mike smiled, then he tapped the boy standing next to him. "Chad this is my cousin Bree Wilson, Bree this is my best friend Chad McGowan. Indigo is Chad's horse and I don't think you two have met before."

As Chad turned around, I smiled and held out my hand. "Nice to meet you Chad." I said as he shook my hand. Wow, Chad was cute. He had semi longish brown hair with bright green eyes and a smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm so glad you're finally here, Mike wouldn't stop talking about you for weeks!" Chad winked at me.

I laughed, "Really?"

Mike scowled and turned to Jazzman, mounting up. "Are we going to workout or stand here?"

Chad and I laughed while Ashleigh mounted the other horse. "Who's that?" I asked Chad as Mike and Ashleigh rode out.

"That's your uncle's two year old he's training, his name is Gunshot, but we call him Gunner." Chad said, leaning on the rail.

"What are Mike and Ashleigh doing this morning?" I asked Gene.

"Just galloping them, keep 'em in shape. Gunner has a maiden race coming up in 2 weeks so I want keep his work simple." I watched as Mike and Ashleigh canter the horses around the track to warm them up.

I let myself drift off into my thoughts as they rode. Brad Townsend was the first thing to pop into my mind.

I remembered the way he had first smiled at me and had easily joked with me. I thought about how his face had looked when he asked me what I had thought of Prince's workout, of course then I remembered when his girlfriend came and he went away with her.

Well that ruined my thoughts. I decided it was better just to pay attention to the workouts so I focused on Mike and Ashleigh, who were now galloping Jazzman and Gunner.

"Doesn't Jazzman look great?" Len asked me with a smile. I gave him a smile back before responding.

"He does. Jazzman looks amazing." I couldn't help but feel jealous of Mike. He had an amazing horse and he could ride him! I sighed and rested my cheek on my hand.

"Don't worry Bree, it won't be too long before you're riding." Len said, understanding why I had sighed and patting my shoulder.

"I hope so." I replied.

Three hours after all the horses were fed and turned out I helped him as much as I could with mucking out the stalls. Mike, Chad and Gene had went to town for some feed and supplies but I had decided to stay behind with Len.

I was making my third trip to the manure pile when Brad Townsend showed up in a red Ferrari. I set the wheelbarrow down and called out a greeting to him.

"Working hard are we?" Brad asked, walking up to me. I smiled up at him.

"Yep, gotta keep in shape you know?" I said, picking up the wheelbarrow again.

I saw Brad glance over my body quickly. "Looks like you're in pretty good shape." Brad stated, with a grin.

I blushed and continued on to the manure pile. "Soccer kept me in shape."

"Let me help you with that." Brad grabbed the handles from me and dumped everything out.

"Thanks." I told him as we walked back. "So what are you doing here anyways?"

Brad threw his car keys back and forth in his hands nervously. "I wanted to see what you were doing today."

Inside, I was beaming and laughing in happiness. On the outside, I was calm, cool and collected. "Oh, not much. Can't really do anything with this." I nodded to my leg.

"How long has it been?" Brad asked, talking about my injury.

"Long enough."

Brad rolled his eyes at my answer. "Would you like to take a ride in my car?"

I looked at his red Ferrari, oh I really wanted to. But should I? "I should ask my Uncle Gene first." Just then, I heard Uncle Gene's pickup coming up the driveway.

"Well here he comes now."

Mike, Gene and Chad were all smiling as they walked towards us, once Mike and Chad said Brad their smiles disappeared. "Morning, Brad!" Gene greeted Brad cheerfully.

"Morning Mr. Reese."

"What are you doing over here?" Mike asked, almost rudely. I gave him a look, he shrugged.

"I, ah, came to ask Bree if she would like to take a ride in car and go out for breakfast." Brad answered Mike politely.

"Is that alright with you Uncle Gene?" I asked, hoping he said it would be okay.

Gene shrugged. "Sure go ahead." Brad and I said Goodbye to them and headed towards his car.

I stopped right before the passenger door. "Crap. I have to go get my wallet, I'll be right back."

Brad snorted. "I'm _taking_ you to breakfast. I'm paying."

I bit my lip to keep from smiling. "Does that mean this is a date?" I asked, once we were in his car. Immediately after I asked the question I felt stupid. Of course it wasn't, he had a girlfriend! "I'm sorry, I forgot you have a girlfriend."

Brad's face went through a couple of emotions. Surprised, happy, angry and then just blank. "Actually, I broke up with Melinda last night." Brad said quietly.

"I'm sorry." I told him.

Brad shrugged. "It's no big deal. Now would I be so lucky to have you as a date?"

I smiled at him. "Sure." Wow, my first date.

"Well then let's go to breakfast shall we?" Brad suggested, putting the car in reverse. Brad turned his car around and we drove away from Whitebrook.

"So where would you like to go?" Brad asked, after it had been silent for awhile.

"What's around here?"

"There's Denny's, Bob Evans, Shoney's, Golden Corral..." Brad trailed off.

"Hmm. Denny's sounds good."

"Good choice." Brad agreed.

I raised my eyebrows. "You like Denny's?"

"Of course! Denny's is a good place."

"Doesn't seem like your kind of place." I commented, looking out the window.

"My kind of place? What would be my kind of place?" Brad asked.

"I would assume a fancy restaurant." I answered, looking back at him.

Brad rolled his eyes. "Well your assumption is wrong. I happen to love Denny's they have very good food."

I laughed. "Brad Townsend likes Denny's?"

Brad turned to me as we stopped at a light. "Do you think I'm a snob?"

"Of course not!" I grinned. "It just seems like you would go for the fancier ones."

"I may look like a snob but I'm not really. I do really like Denny's and simpler things." Brad said, looking at me. Brad was being completely serious.

"That's good to know because if you were a snob I really couldn't go on this date with you." I replied.

After Breakfast we took a ride around the Kentucky countryside with the windows down. We rode past tons of horse farms, Lexington was definitely horse country.

"What's it like in South Carolina?" Brad asked as we headed back to Whitebrook.

"Hot." I smiled and Brad gave me a smile back.

"Besides that. Where did you live? What was it like?"

"I lived in a town called Angel Beach and no I'm not kidding. It was awesome because my house was a beachfront house by the boardwalk and it was usually warm all year round." I told him.

"I've heard of Angel Beach, my father has friends that have a home down there." Brad said, nodding.

"I loved it, I used to always get up before the sun rose and run on the beach, then sit on my deck and watch the sun come up, most mornings." I was starting to feel a bit homesick. "Let's change the subject."

Brad seemed to understand. "Favorite sports team?"

"Which sport?" I asked, with a smile.

"Basketball first."

"Charlotte Bobcats, of course." I shrugged. "You?"

"Atlanta Hawks." Brad answered. "Football team?"

"Carolina Panthers, you?"

"Atlanta Falcons."

I laughed. "You have a thing for Atlanta?"

Brad shook his head smiling. "No, not really. I just like those two teams. We don't have any home state teams here and I just picked the best team."

I snorted. "The best team?"

"Carolina went to the super bowl once and lost." Brad looked over at me. "They're not that good apparently."

"The Falcons went to the super bowl too and lost thirty four to nineteen. Carolina went and lost thirty two to twenty nine! We did better than you!" I protested.

Brad chuckled. "Glad to know I'm talking to a girl who knows her sports teams and actually likes to talk about sports."

I just shook my head in response. I saw we were driving up the lane of Whitebrook and I felt a bit sad that I had to stop hanging out with Brad. Brad stopped the car by the house.

"I had a good time today." I told him.

"That's good." Brad smiled. "I hope we can do this again sometime soon."

I bit my lip before responding. "Me too. It'd be nice to have someone to be friends with around here." I saw Brad's smile falter but then he quickly smiled again.

Brad glanced at the clock and sighed. "It's already ten thirty, I have to get back to ride with Maddock on the trails. See you tomorrow maybe?"

"Sure. Well I mean you know Whitebrook's phone number don't you? If you don't, you can get it off Ashleigh." I told him.

"Then I'll call you." Brad said. I opened my door and got out. Brad put down the window. "Bye Bree."

"Bye Brad." I did a little wave. "By the way, you've got a nice car."

As I heard Brad drive away, I could see Gene and the others standing by the barn. "How was breakfast?" Gene asked me.

"Good. We went to Denny's and rode around Lexington after wards. It's amazing how many horse farms are around here." I said with a smile.

"That's good to hear." Gene said.

I nodded, not knowing what to say. We all turned when we heard a truck rumbling up the drive, it was a u-haul truck. "Wonder what that's for." Mike said.

"It's Bree's other things, her dad called and said they were on their way." Gene spoke up.

"Already?" I asked in surprise.

"Yep. It was a quick delivery or something like that." Gene smiled. "Let's go get your room put together."

A little while later as I put away my clothes, I came across my soccer jersey. It stopped me in my tracks and my brain automatically tried to stop the memories that would follow. I quickly threw my jersey back into the box and pulled out some plain t-shirts of mine, I was unaware of everything else around me so when Mike cleared his throat I jumped and let out a shriek.

"Sorry." Mike apologized. Mike crossed the room and sat on the bed. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to see if I could help you put away things."

"Um.." I looked around for something to give him. I saw a box with computer, printer and other electronics written on it and pointed it out. "Would you mind getting my things out of that box? We could put the computer desk over there by the closet."

Mike looked over to the closet. "That would work since it's not a big desk. How big is your bed?"

"It's a double." I replied. Most of my furniture was out in the hallway while I organized my things. "So it'll probably take up a little more room than this twin. But I only have a computer desk and a dresser, so I won't need that much room. I want to keep the nightstand too, if that's okay."

Mike smiled. "Of course it's okay. Now where's your bed going?"

Mike and I spent the next hour deciding where everything would go. We decided that we would put my bed in the corner where the south and west wall met, my computer desk by my closet on the east wall, my dresser on the north wall on the other side of the closet. The nightstand would stay next to my bed. I looked at the window on the south wall by my bed, I would need blinds and a curtain.

After that Mike and I took apart the twin bed then put it up in the attic, we put together my bed and I put my sheets and blankets on it, along with my pillows. We brought the computer desk and set it by the closet then brought the dresser in. I went to put my clothes away again as Mike set up my laptop and printer.

Soon I was finished putting away my clothes and I opened another box without looking at the label. It was my soccer trophies and pictures, I swallowed the lump in my throat. Why did my dad have to send everything?

I took out the photo frame with my team picture in it. I smiled when I saw all my teammates and wondered what were they all up to back in Angel Beach? When I had broke the news to my teammates and coach that I was going to Kentucky for awhile, they had been upset. But they promised to always call, text and e-mail, they also promised to keep me updated on games but made me promise the same. I had told them I wasn't playing soccer anymore.

That had definitely shocked some, but not my coaches. I sighed and placed my team picture on my dresser then closed the box with my trophies in it, I stuck it in the closet.

I saw Mike's eyes follow it but he didn't comment on it and for that I was grateful. I really liked Mike, he was a great cousin. "When does school start?" I asked.

"August twenty fifth. Nervous?" Mike said, grabbing my camera out the box. I smiled, thank goodness my dad sent my camera up! I would need it around here, I could definitely get some amazing pictures.

I answered Mike. "A bit. What are the kids like around here?"

Mike thought a moment before answering. "A lot of them are farm kids like me, their parents or a family has a farm/works on one or has horses. They're all nice, I promise. The only kids I don't know about is at the private academy and since you won't be attending there you don't have to worry about them."

"Does Brad attend our high school?" I asked, hopeful.

Mike rolled his eyes. "Nope. Brad goes to the private academy."

There went my hopes of seeing him at school. "Damn." I muttered.

"What's going on there?" Mike asked. I turned and went to another box, it was some of my books. I focused on that for a minute before answering.

"Nothing. We're just friends, he's a nice guy, really Mike."

"You don't know the things he's done."

"That's the past and you have to let it go Mike." I snapped.

Mike was silent and I regretted snapping at him. "Sorry." We both said in unison. Then we grinned at each other.

"Mike! Bree!" I heard Uncle Gene shouting our names from downstairs.

I followed Mike down the stairs and saw Gene standing by the kitchen table. I realized there were sandwiches on the table and after looking at the clock, that it was two thirty already.

"You've been up there for awhile now." Gene said as we all sat down. "Did you get everything organized and put away?"

"We've got all the furniture put where I want it, we were just getting things out of boxes." I replied.

"Your dad called while you were up there but he told me not to bother you. He said to call him later and to check in your box with your electronics, he put a gift in there for you." Gene told me.

"Okay." And that was the end of that conversation, the conversation turned to horses. I had a feeling this was going to happen a lot but I didn't mind.

"So are we going to the sale on September eighth ,Dad?" Mike looked over to his dad.

"I think we are. Royal, I think we might take. She's showing potential but I'm not sure whether she'll do anything on the racetrack or not. She might just end up being a broodmare." Gene sighed and I knew it pained him to sell a horse of his.

"Can I tag along?" I jumped a bit in my seat in excitement. I wonder how much horses cost around here? Secretly I was thinking about getting a horse, an idea that would probably be turned down by Mike and Gene.

"Sure." Gene smiled at my eagerness. "We might even bring a horse or two home."

The auction was something to look forward to—and I would have to work on my riding for the next three weeks if I wanted them to take me seriously on buying a horse. I would work in the barn every morning and evening I could and I would watch Chad and Mike while they worked Indigo and Jazzman. And if the doctor gave me the okay I would ride Coffee everyday.

I smiled, now that I had a plan. Of course I would have to talk to my dad about dipping into my savings, but it shouldn't be a problem, my mom left me quite a bit of money when she died. I would still have enough for my college education and to buy a car when I turned sixteen.

"Bree!" Mike said my name loudly. I realized he had been saying my name for a few minutes but I had been so lost in my plans about buying a horse, I hadn't heard him.

"Sorry, what?" I blushed.

"I asked if you wanted to go into town for a movie tonight." Mike smiled.

"Sure." I jumped at the chance to do something. "Is Ashleigh coming?"

Now it was Mike's turn to blush. "Yeah, she is. Chad is too."

Ah, that seemed a bit weird. Kinda like a double date. "It kinda sounds like a double date." I hesitantly replied.

Mike chuckled. "It's nothing like that. Chad has a girlfriend, she just can't make it."

"Oh okay, that'd be okay then." I agreed. "What movie?"

"Ruffian, you know the racehorse?" Mike paused, waiting for an answer. I nodded, then he continued. "It's about her life and her racing career."

"That sounds good. Definitely count me in. What time?"

"Movie starts at six, so we have to leave by five thirty. Be ready." Mike answered.

I nodded and then put my plate in the sink. "So since I can't ride can I at least groom Coffee?"

Gene and Mike looked at each other before agreeing it would be fine. "If you need help, Len is out there." Gene told me. I knew there was a horse race they wanted to watch so they would be inside.

I walked out the kitchen door and down to the barn. "I'm gonna groom Coffee." I informed Len as I walked in the barn.

Len smiled. "Do you need any help getting her out and into cross-ties?"

I shook my head. "I'll be fine." I opened Coffee's stall door and grabbed her halter. "Hey Coffee, you wanna have some attention? Yeah, I'm gonna groom you."

I put Coffee in cross-ties and Len handed me a grooming box. "Thanks." I gave Len a smile. I talked to Coffee as I groomed her and she would occasionally nudge my shoulder. Coffee was a really nice mare that let me do everything without a bit of attitude. "Where did she come from?" I asked Len in amazement as he walked past with some hay nets.

Len chuckled. "We raised her since she was a baby. It's all in the handling, Miss Bree. Plus she's got that sweetheart personality."

I nodded in agreement. "She's amazing."

I groomed Coffee until her black coat shined and her black mane and tail was perfectly combed out. I called out to Len, asking if we had an rubber bands. Len appeared with a baggie full of them. "Thanks, I think I'm gonna braid her hair."

I worked on Coffee's mane, humming along with a country song Len had playing. Coffee stood patiently as I braided, occasionally turning around to look at me and I would kiss her nose.

Once I was done, Coffee looked like a pretty show horse. Len walked by and gave me a smile. "She looks beautiful."

"Thanks Len."

"If you want to, you can take her out the field. She only gets fed once a day so she can go out to the pasture to graze." Len suggested.

I clipped the lead rope Len handed me on Coffee's halter and led her off to the pasture Len pointed out. As soon as Coffee was free, she trotted off along the fence then out to the middle of the field. Then she laid down and rolled.

I groaned. "Coffee! I just groomed you!"

I heard a chuckle behind me and turned. "Horses love to do that right after you spent hours grooming them." Chad said.

I grinned. "So I see. I really did spend time on her and there it is, wasted."

Chad grinned back. "Mike said you were out in the barn and Len said you were letting coffee out. I was sent out by Mike to tell you, you only have an hour to get ready so you better go in."

I gasped. "It's four already!"

"Four thirty." Chad replied after looking at his watch.

"Crap! I need to go take a shower." I hooked the lead rope on the gate like Len had told me to. Then started towards the house with Chad walking along.

"So how did it go with Brad Townsend this morning?" Chad asked. I didn't hear any rudeness or anything like that in his voice like I had heard in Mike's.

"Good. He seems really nice and I had fun."

"That's good. Brad's a pretty nice guy, but he does have another side, just so you know." Chad was being serious.

"That's what Mike said." I rolled my eyes.

"Mike and Ashleigh have had some run ins with Brad, so I can see where he's coming from. I'm not saying Brad is a totally bad guy, just that he's not always the nice guy."

I liked Chad, he could talk about Brad without being rude or snippy about it. Say his opinion without sounding completely bad. "Thanks for the warning." Was all I said back.

When I got into the house I went straight to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I was out in a half hour and I ran in my towel to my room. I heard Mike and Chad in Mike's room so I shut and locked my door so no one would accidentally walk in.

I looked through my closet trying to decide what to wear. I finally decided on a pair of dark blue jean shorts and a dark blue tank top, with my flip flops. I decided to blow dry my hair, I would still have enough time.

I ran down the stairs twenty five minutes later and Mike, Chad, Gene and Len were there. "Ready!"

Mike and Chad smiled. "Okay, we'll head out. Ash called and said she's gonna need a ride. There's something wrong with her mom's car."

I followed Chad and Mike out to Chad's black Ford Escape. Ten minutes later we arrived at Townsend Acres, Mike went up to the door and knocked, then looking confused walked back to the car. "Caroline, Ash's sister, said she went out to the barns so I'm gonna go look for her there."

"I'll go with you." I volunteered. We had a half hour before the movie started but we still needed to buy our tickets and stuff. I headed towards the barn where Wonder was while Mike went over to Charlie to ask if he had seen Ashleigh.

When I entered the barn I saw Brad at the end of the aisle. I smiled and I saw him turn at the footsteps. His face lit up with a smile. "Hey! What are you doing here Bree?"

I laughed. "Trying to find Ashleigh. Mike, Chad and I are supposed to be going to the movies with her."

Brad kept his smile. "I think she's out at the pasture with Wonder. What movie are you going to see?"

"Ruffian."

"Nice." Brad nodded. I saw Ashleigh walk into the barn and saw her surprise at seeing me there.

"Is it five thirty already?" Ashleigh asked.

"It's actually five thirty five."I informed her after looking at my watch.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting! I started helping my mom and dad after I called Mike and lost track of time."

I grinned at her. "Oh it's fine. We still have plenty of time."

Ashleigh sighed in relief. "That's good because I need to change out of these boots before we leave!"

Ashleigh went off to find Mike and then change her boots, leaving me with Brad again. "Guess I'll talk to you later?" I hesitated.

"Yeah. Have fun at the movies." Brad winked.

"I'll try." I giggled. "Bye Brad!"

"Bye Bree!" Brad called as I walked out of the barn. I got back in Chad's car and a minute later Mike and Ashleigh joined us.

…...

(Slight Spoiler if you haven't seen Ruffian-the movie-of know what happened the great filly :/ )

I walked out of the movie crying. The ending was so _sad_ that I couldn't help but burst into tears, I could see Ashleigh holding back tears but I hadn't been that strong. Seeing Ruffian breakdown like that was sad and then her having her surgery to save her only to have put down in the end because of her freaking out and re-injuring herself was just so terribly sad.

Chad had looked over at me when I started to cry and he had put his arm around my shoulders, rubbing my left shoulder with his hand. "It's alright, Bree."

I had shaken my head, knowing it was hopeless to try to talk while I was crying. He couldn't say it was just a movie—because it wasn't, that's what really had happened to her in the end, in real life.

The lights came on after the credits and we had walked out. My tears had slowed as we reached Chad's car and Ashleigh gave me a hug. I felt kind of embarrassed getting so emotional over the movie in front of everyone, who knows what they thought about me.

We stopped by McDonalds and got something to eat then dropped Ashleigh off at her house. Chad drove Mike and I back to Whitebrook. "Night Chad." Mike said. I echoed his goodbye.

"See you two bright and early tomorrow!" Chad winked before driving off.

Mike and I headed to the barn to say goodnight to the horses. While Mike was in the barn saying goodnight to Jazzman I went out the Coffee's pasture and told her goodnight and gave her a pat on the neck. When I got in the house I changed into my Pj's and brushed my teeth then I braided my hair. I walked into my bedroom now filled with my things and got under my covers, I saw my Uncle Gene at my door.

"May I come in?" Gene asked and I nodded. "Was the movie good?"

"Yeah, I cried. It was so sad Uncle Gene." I still felt my heartache for Ruffian. Poor filly.

Gene had a sad smile on his face. "It was pretty tragic what happened to her."

I nodded. Gene sighed. "I just wanted to come in and say goodnight. I also wanted to make sure you're okay."

I felt confused. "Make sure I'm okay?"

"I know you weren't completely happy about coming here, Bree. I just want to see how you're holding up so far."

"I really like it, Uncle Gene." I was being honest. "I mean I have Mike, Ashleigh and Chad as friends, Brad too. Plus I have a horse to ride when I'm allowed to. What else could I want?" I smiled.

Gene smiled back. "Well I'm glad. Mike and I are really happy to have you here and we want to make sure you're comfortable here."

"Thanks Uncle Gene."

Gene leaned down and kissed my forehead then patted my shoulder that was under the covers. "Well see you at five tomorrow."

I silently groaned. "Night Uncle Gene." Gene left, closing my door. I turned out my light and got deeper under the covers.

As I started to fall asleep, I briefly had the feeling that I had forgotten to do something that I was supposed to. When I was drifting off I remembered it was to call my father.

_Oh well, I'll do it in the morning._ I thought sleepily. That's when I drifted off into my dreams.

…...

A/N: It's finally up! Thanks to Hannah221 and halo62 for the reviews and for reading my story! :) Sorry it's been so long since I updated, I was in bit of a writers block with my story but now I'm out of it! I'll try to post the next chapter soon but I have to update all my other stories first. Thanks for reading this!

Please review :) I appreciate them all! I wanna hear your thoughts!

From: QuinnandSeth'sgirl15


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